


butterfly effect

by sapphfics



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-19
Packaged: 2019-02-04 12:30:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12771108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sapphfics/pseuds/sapphfics
Summary: It annoys her, how nervous she is to finally admit to Chloe that she loves her, because really, how can she fuck up when she has the ability to say something, rewind and fix her wording and then try again as many times as she wants to?





	butterfly effect

At first, Max tries to trick herself into thinking it’s some horrible, horrible dream. 

She’s always had nightmares, ever since a kid at school whose mother was a nurse taunted her by telling her in explicit detail exactly how Chloe’s father died, how much pain he was in, how slow his death was. Max covers her hands over her ears, just as she had before Chloe had broken the kid’s nose, and hopes.

There is something so indescribably surreal about seeing the only home she has ever had in ruins. 

She doesn’t even notice the light house until it hits her, and she wakes up, still alive. She never forgets the light fading. She bites her tongue to hold back a scream, shoves in her headphones, and pretends. 

//

Nathan Prescott fires the gun and Max screams. 

(She never tells her this, but the first time she saves Chloe, she wonders if the bullet will hit her instead, and finds she doesn’t care.)

She rewinds time, and the world begins to tilt. 

//

Chloe almost runs her over and suddenly finding out she can time travel is the least of her worries. 

“It’s time to be an everyday hero,” Chloe proclaims, as if she really believes Max is one, and Max smiles. 

Absolute power corrupts absolutely, or so they say, but messing around with her powers at the restaurant is the most fun she’s had in years. 

That is, until she faints. 

//

She watches Kate jump to her death, and thinks again of that fading light. 

She can’t save everyone, but watching Victoria Chase act apologetic at Kate’s funeral, watch her lay flowers at the memorial, watch everyone act as if the video never happened, as if the intense bullying Kate endured meant nothing, as if everyone’s carelessness couldn’t have prevented this, and it makes her want to watch this town burn. 

//

She spends a night studying the many photographs on her wall, all the memories she captured. Time seems meaningless as long as she can control it, and eventually, she’ll get used to the nose bleeds. 

A part of her knows she hasn’t got much time left, before it all ends. 

It annoys her, how nervous she is to finally admit to Chloe that she loves her, because really, how can she fuck up when she has the ability to say something, rewind and fix her wording and then try again as many times as she wants to?

Maybe it's because they've been best friends since she can remember, or maybe it's because she's noticed the longing way Chloe talks about Rachel - there is no body, Max reminds herself, and hopes that Rachel is still alive - or maybe it's because Max has always been kind of useless when it comes to expressing her feelings, but time Max contemplates telling her she feels like she wants to throw up.

_That kiss meant nothing,_ a small voice says, but she tries to ignore it. 

Thinking about it really doesn’t help, either, but it's the only thing Max can focus on.

She lies on her bed, her eyes fixated at the mould on the ceiling, her camera lying untouched beside her. She knows she‘s wasting time that could be spent searching for Rachel, but Chloe’s asleep and she doesn’t feel safe going out alone anymore. 

Max must fall asleep at some point, because the next thing she knows, Chloe is stomping through the door, and Max swears for what feels like the thousandth time that her best friend has the feet of a small elephant.

//

When Max finally says it, they are eating greasy fish and chips in Max’s dorm room. 

“Chloe, I - I love you.” Max says, without thinking, really.

Chloe drops the remote. “What?”

She looks so confused it breaks Max’s heart.

So, Max does the only thing she can think of - she kisses her.

It’s clumsy and kind of awkward, but then again, first kisses always are, right?

They break apart.

“I love you, too.” Chloe breathes, and kisses Max again.

//

So sure, she could go back and make her confession a bit better, but she doesn’t, because honestly, Max wants to keep some moments just as they were.

//

Arcadia Bay becomes nothing but a memory, and Max holds Chloe’s hand and tries to forget it all.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry if this sucks but i found an old Drabble and wanted to re-edit it...i might do a kate marsh related fic at some point but for now! Here It Is


End file.
